


All's Fair

by iamvikinglord



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2020-01-05 09:36:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18363374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamvikinglord/pseuds/iamvikinglord
Summary: Caris of Whiterun thought nothing could be worse than having her heart torn in two by the civil war. But then the dragons came.





	All's Fair

The sky was red, clouds swirling above her head. Caris stood in the center of a courtyard, her hair pushed back from the wind. A monstrous roar rang out around her. The wind picked up and she pushed against it, trying to move forward. She was stuck. A shadow descended over her, filling her with a sense of dread. She closed her eyes hard, something was wrong. This had to be a vision. It couldn’t be real. She fell down to her knees and covered her ears, her head pounding. She needed to wake up. 

The wagon jolted her awake. She was leaning against someone. Her vision was blurry and her head was still pounding. But the Skyrim sky was the same old grey it always had been. She sighed in relief for a moment though the feeling of dread still sat hard in her stomach like some of Delphine’s bread. Something bad was going to happen soon. She could feel it. None of her visions had ever been that forcefull before. She could still feel the ringing in her ears. Though if that was from the beast in the vision or not she wasn’t entirely sure. She definitely could feel an ache on her head and what was probably blood pooled in her ear. She reached a hand up to touch it. Only to find her hands were bound. She winced as she touched the gash on her temple. Her wince got the attention of the man she was leaning on. He had been talking but she hadn’t been paying attention. He turned to her, taking her hand in his. They were large and rough, but he held hers so delicately. She blinked a few times, but the vision wasn’t getting much better. She peered up at him, barely making out his features. He was blonde. That was for sure. She concentrated on his voice, trying to make it out. It was a deep rumble that resonated in her chest, but after a few moments it became clearer,

“Caris? Caris, can you hear me? By Talos I think she got hit too hard. What the fuck were you thinking, Caris? What were you doing there?”

She blinked a few times again. She was utterly confused,

“Ralof?”

“Aye, are you okay?” He turned his face away from her to the man sitting next to her in the corner of the wagon, “I swear, horse thief, if we get out of this I’ll-”

Ralof was cut off by the driver yelling out for him to be quiet. The wagon jerked to a stop and she finally looked beyond Ralof. There were three other men in the wagon with her besides Ralof. The so called “Horse Thief” whom she faintly remembered. The man that was gagged as well as bound. He looked oddly familiar. He wore fine dark furs and his eyes were piercing as he took her in. She looked away, something about the way he stared at her made her uncomfortable. The Redguard next to him she didn’t know at all. Nothing about him was familiar. He was extremely large, took up the space of about two men. How these ropes held him she didn’t know. His arms were bigger than her head around and she would have put septims on him that he could bust right out of his ropes without breaking a sweat. He didn’t even look at her, he was staring directly ahead of the wagon.

The horse thief panicked, “Why are we stopping?”

Ralof snorted indignantly, “Why do you think? End of the line…” He looked down at Caris and gave her a weak smile and squeezed her hands. She could feel the color drain from her face. She was going to die. She wasn’t part of this. How could she be a prisoner. She went to speak but her words slurred into a jumbled mess. An imperial soldier came up behind the wagon and unlatched it as a dark skinned soldier behind him barked, “Get these prisoners in line!”

“Let’s go, Caris. Shouldn’t keep the gods waiting for us.” He was trying to joke. To cheer her up. But it just made her want to break down and cry. Her eyes burned as she fought against the tears. Or maybe it was the cold wind blowing at her. Either way should fought them back. No way was she going to cry. She might only be half Nord but she still had her pride. The gods would not see her cry before her death. She would face it with dignity. No matter how much it terrified her.

The man in the furs was the first to step off the wagon. Followed by Ralof and Caris. And then the thief and the Redguard. The man in the furs name was called out and her breath was caught in her throat. Ulfric? The Ulfric. She looked up at Ralof and then to Ulfric, all of a sudden everything rushing back to her. 

She had tried to warn him. That’s why she was here. She raced after Ralof the moment she found out about the ambush. She didn’t give a fuck about Ulfric or the other Stormcloaks. But she didn’t need Ralof getting captured. She glared over at the thief, remembering how he hit her over the head with a branch as he tried to steal her horse. She still didn’t remember the Redguard at all. But he must have been just caught up in the mess like she was. 

“I’m not a rebel!” the thief’s voice cut through the air and brought her back to the present. 

“Face your death with some courage, thief.” the annoyance dripped from Ralof’s words and he sighed. Her call not to cry was a good one. No need to have Ralof’s last thoughts of her be on par with the thief. But the thief continued to scream of his innocence. The woman soldier from before barked at him to be quiet. 

“Step forward when you hear your name.” a voice called out from the front of the crowd. It was familiar and it took her a moment to place with her head pounding. 

“Hadvar…?” 

Ralof grunted angrily in a reply, “Empire loves their damn lists.”

Caris swallowed hard, her head swimming with questions. Her stomach in knots. Was Hadvar going to be her usher to death. Surely he wouldn’t allow this. He’d vouch for her. She looked up at Ralof as his name was called. He held her hands for as long as he could, their fingers grazing for a moment before he was out of her reach. Hadvar would be the usher to his death as well. How? Why? She wanted to speak but her mouth still wasn’t working. 

“Lokir of Rorikstead!” Hadvars voice called out again. Instead of walking forward he sprinted past the Imperial Captain and Hadvar.

“You won’t catch me!” he yelled...before falling face first into the dirt. Three arrows sticking out of his back. Caris felt sick. 

“Anyone else feel like running?” the captain asked. 

The redguard was next. But it seemed even Hadvar didn’t know who he was. The captain didn’t seem to care. 

“Forget the list, he goes to the block.”

Caris was starting to feel dizzy. She wasn’t entirely sure if it was her impending doom or the gash in her head but the combination of both wasn’t helping her nausea. The wind began to pick up as the crowd was slowly called one by one up to Hadvar. 

Finally he spotted her. The color drained from his face. He looked at the list and then back to her. He was panicking. She could see it. 

“Caris of…” he paused, why? He knew where she was from.

“Caris of Faulkreath.” She gave him a puzzled look. She was most definitely from Whiterun. He knew this. What was he playing. 

She stepped forward and he leaned in to whisper something to the captain. She snorted, “Oh? I doubt that.”

She stepped closer to Caris and looked her up and down, “Hadvar says he knows you. Says you aren’t on the list. What were you doing? Trying to cross the border like that Redguard up there? Huh?” She fired questions at Caris so fast it was hard to keep up. 

“N-no, ma’am. I was just…” she looked at Hadvar. He shook his head, pleading with his eyes for her to make something up, “I was just uh, gathering... ingredients and then the thief tried to uh, steal my horse, ma’am.” 

The captain snorted, “Likely story. Hadvar put her in line with the others.”

Caris started to say something but was cut off by Hadvar, “But ma’am she’s not even a Stormcloak sympath-” he was also cut off, “Did I stutter, soldier? Take her to the line. We aren’t taking any chances today. They all die.”

He took her by the arm and she looked up at him, tears welling in her eyes. She wouldn’t cry. She refused. But it was getting more difficult as the minutes ticked by.

“I’m so sorry, Caris. I tried...You. You shouldn’t be here.” Hadvar cradled her shaking hands in his as he escorted her towards the rest of the prisoners. He was warm, so incredibly warm. Caris wanted nothing more than to be enveloped in his arms. For him to hold her and let her know she was safe. But nothing could be farther from reality. The moment his hands fell from hers she was thrust back into the cold truth. Her death was imminent. Ralof call him a coward under his breath before taking her hands as soon as she was close. 

She buried her head in the warm padded armor of Ralof’s arm. At least if her tears came they’d be hidden in his armor. She peeked out for just a moment when she heard Ulfric be addressed by a man in ornate Imperial armor. She did a double take. The courtyard they were all standing in. She looked around, the pounding in her head getting worse.

She tugged at Ralof’s arm, “Something is wrong…”

He chuckled softly, “Yeah, ya could say that.”

“No, Ralof...I mean. Something bad is going to happen.” She looked up at the sky, “In the wagon, I had a vision…” she kept her eyes up. Something was coming. 

Ralof started down at her, confusion apparent across his face, “What? Why didn-” a distant roar rang through the air. It was not as bad as the one from her vision but it wasn’t good. Whatever was coming was getting closer. The soldiers all looked to the sky, the captain barking orders. She gripped Ralof’s hand tightly. That’s when she saw it. Black Death. Wings cast as shadow across the entire courtyard. The headsman dropped his ax and fell on his ass as the dragon landed atop the central tower. The force of his wings sent her flying backward. She could see she wasn’t the only one as she scrambled to get to her feet. The wind had gotten even more violent and the clouds were swirling ahead just like in her vision. She frantically searched the area for someplace to hide. Fire fell from the sky and smashed the wagon behind her. She screamed and bolted forward, anywhere had to be better than here. A rough hand gripped her arm and ushered her towards a watch tower. She let Ralof half drag her towards the tower, her mind racing as she looked around. She saw the Redguard kneeling over by the headsman's block. He must have just barely escaped his fate. She wanted to laugh. To escape the ax only to be placed in this situation. She ripped away from Ralof and barreled toward the Redguard. She reached him quickly and with her hands still bound, tried to help him up,

“Come on! We gotta find cover!” She tugged at his ragged shirt and started walking forward. Ralof was by her side almost immediately,

“Are you touched!” he yelled over the screams and wind, “I’ll get him, you get into that building!” He heaved the Redguard up and put his arm over his shoulder, “Now!”


End file.
